I'm glad to see opinion seems to be swaying back in this direction. It was only a few months ago that the general sentiment seemed to be "times are different than the glasshole days, it's fine now."

It is unfortunate that a large number of users here are not hackers, not even in an idealistic philosophical sense, and will betray the public good for their own short-term gain.

I saw there is at least one company working on offline smart glasses for disabled users. I don’t have such a problem with this, and I wonder if the industry as a whole could be nudged in this direction. Offline glasses seem more ok to me.

It makes a lot of sense for actual accessibility devices to be offline-capable. You don’t want to lose your “sight” when you step into a metal building or elevator.

Vacations smart glasses are great at translating signs, historical plaques, and even ancient inscriptions on walls. (That last one surprised me.)

For parents smart glasses are awesome, no need to pull out a phone to take a picture. No need to view the world through a phone screen.

They are also useful as being regular BT headphones as well. Podcasts while walking w/o tiny earbuds to lose.

> Very, very few users are going to be an interesting or valid use case

You then list a mere two categories.

Would your argument have been similar in 2008 if told that in ten years, everyone in the economic first world would be carrying multiple cameras including a dedicated "selfie" camera at all times?

Yes and those blind people are easily recognised and I'm sure there will be a lot more understanding of them using such products.

I am blind, and I could imagine several usecases which would make my life a lot easier by using glasses like this. But because of their reputation I will most likely never use them, and especially not in public. I'm already afraid enough people will think I'm recording them when I use my phone to get info about what's around me, definitely don't need to get punched in the face for wearing meta on my face.

Edit: Not that I would want Meta to get all that data anyway. But even if glasses exist which are more privacy conscious, I think Meta and Google Glass thoroughly ruined the reputation of any kind of wearable like this.

A parent wanting to record a fleeting moment with their child without the potential distraction of pulling out a phone or other camera.

This alone doesn't outweigh all of the negative uses, but I would argue that it's reasonable and legitimate.

I have 2 kids in single digit ages (1 under 5). I bought meta gen 2 last month and I cannot describe how many sweet moments I have captured. My kid loves to sing while playing with dolls and stops as soon as I flip my phone out to record.

If the "subject" is human, those seem rather few. Surgeries come to mind, though smart glasses would be more a convenience there. Maybe some psychiatric patients, where a doctor wants to review snippets of his interactions with lower-level staff or his family members? Law enforcement trying to record interactions between informants and targeted criminals - though the latter might wise up pretty quick. Security staff at some very-high-security facilities.

I already noted it in the answer. If a person feels at risk, or even if they're on vacation, they have a right to record something/everything and someone/everyone around them in public, just as they could with a phone.

Do you think you will know if someone has their phone in their pocket or in a holster, and is turned on and recording? You will never know.

There are dozens if not hundreds of cameras pointed at the street that record people every time they go out in public in any urban setting.

I have no idea why you are downvoted.

I do not want my employees recording their day job and selling it, or the creepy dude next to me in the bathroom filming my goods or the log jam flying out of my butt so meta can try to sell me pepto.

I also don't want that one time I did something minor illegal like jay walking get auto fed into palantir so they can ship me to the latest internment camp.

Or someone stealing my biometrics by just walking past me.

> No this right shouldn't exist and I'm glad it doesn't in my country.

Smartphones are illegal in your country? I am skeptical.

The right to record is the right to remember.

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People recognize GoPro cameras for what they are. They are easily understood as a camera. Glasshole devices are not as easily recognizable and people honestly may not realize they are being recorded especially when the glasshole does not inform everyone they are being recorded.

Now, for your "while cycling" qualifier, why does it matter? Again, if you stop to talk to people while recording and it is not obvious you are recording, you're a glasshole. Personally, I have no experience with camera quality from the devices, but I do know what a GoPro can do. My gut instinct is that the GoPro will be superior footage.

It's a big obvious doofus camera vs a tiny spy camera, pretty simple!

Many security cameras have the ability to record audio. Depending on where you are, it might be illegal to use it. All the cams I have purchased have it. That would include ReoLink and a recommended model from the Frigate site.

Imagine someone pulling up a smartphone and then recording everything that happens around them. Contrast that with someone wearing smart glasses and doing that exact same thing.

On a separate note, (and this is a genuine question) are you by any chance aware the term Non-consensual intimate imagery / NCII?

I am beginning to suspect that the average HN goer isn’t aware of the scope and scale of the Trust and Safety problem.

Most people don't run around holding out their smartphone directly in front of them. It has to be pointed at the subject, and tends to be obvious.

Smart glasses, however, are always aimed at whatever the wearer is looking at. They may or may not be recording (note the reports of people hiding the LED indicators), and at a fair distance could easily be mistaken for a normal pair.

The general populace is much more likely to notice the former recording rather than the latter.

This line makes a valid point. People record strangers all the time. In an obvious way or trying to be sneaky.

Just because you don’t notice it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.

However, this is still a different thing than smart glasses which can further be segmented into who designed the smart glasses.

Someone has to hold smartphone and point it at you.

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They point the camera of their smartphone directly at you?